Crown wants adult sentences for teens accused in Serena McKay slaying

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This article was published 26/05/2017 (3034 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Teen girls accused in the beating death of a 19-year-old woman on Sagkeeng First Nation could face adult prison time if they are convicted of the murder.

The Crown intends to seek adult sentences for both teens charged with second-degree murder in the death of Serena McKay, who was found dead April 23 after suffering a brutal beating — a video of which was posted on Facebook and widely circulated on social media.

One of the two accused, a 17-year-old girl, appeared briefly in Winnipeg provincial court Friday as Crown and defence lawyers ordered a psychological assessment. She can’t be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. She has been in custody at the Manitoba Youth Centre since her arrest in late April and is expected to have a bail hearing June 15.

A 16-year-old co-accused has not applied for bail. She has also been ordered to undergo a psychological assessment.

The maximum sentence for a conviction on second-degree murder in Canada’s youth criminal justice system is seven years — four years in custody and three years served in the community. Under the adult system, the minimum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years.

All three teens attended the same high school. McKay wasn’t from the community and was living with a family in Powerview while going to school in Sagkeeng, Sagkeeng First Nation Chief Derrick Henderson previously told the Free Press.

A video of the deadly beating, likely taken with a cellphone, shows a person wearing a boot repeatedly kicking at a woman trying to shield her bloodied face with her hand and arm as another person jumps in to pull back the victim’s arm.

In an instant message exchange sent to the Free Press shortly after McKay’s death by a resident of the reserve, one of the alleged suspects writes at first, “We fought, I broke her nose then that happened, she left after, she was OK.

“She was up and walking.”

A few hours later, the same suspect writes, “She was found dead bro… Promise me say when we fought it wasn’t that bad. Her nose was just bleeding lots… I’m f—in scared.

“Promise me, you won’t tell em I fought her deadly. Please bro… Say after we closed the door, she left.”

McKay’s death attracted national attention and prompted a call to action in the community of about 3,350, with hundreds of mourners attending a vigil in her honour.

“If we don’t start making changes in the community, we’ll be in this circle again in a month or two. Is that what we want as a community? So it’s all about intervention, prevention, doing something to make it better. And that’s the message that was given,” Chief Henderson said after the vigil.

— with files from Alexandra Paul and Kevin Rollason

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay